September 2, 2012 - Esther & Whiteface Mountains

It has taken us just over four years since we started our High Peaks adventure, but finally the last day arrived to finish the task.  In the 4 years since Rich and Jack have been working on our list, we covered about 300 miles of trail taking just over 200 hours of hiking.  For the hike up the last peak, we were pleased to be joined by Sean and Ally, as well as our neighbor AJ who introduced us to hiking 4 years earlier, and AJ's brother-in-law Jim who was attempting his first High Peak.

The day got off to an auspicious start when we took a wrong turn off Route 73, and then AJ got a speeding ticket trying to find our way back to the right path.  We parked at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center (ASRC), and didn't get on to the trails until 9:30 AM.  Almost immediately we realized that the mile of trail we saved by parking at the ASRC was paid back by an incredibly steep initial ascent up the old rope tow ski lift.  The first mile felt like it was straight up, and it wasn't long before all of us were breathing hard. Once we reach the summit of Marble Mountain we were able to catch a breather, but by that time Sean was already out of water.

The next couple of miles was alternately steep climb sections interspersed with flatter strolls.  Everyone seemed to recover a bit from that first steep pitch, and it was all made easier by how incredibly dry the whole trail is this year.  At the cairn that marked the herd path to Esther we had a quick snack, but then started straight over the ridge.  It was only about a mile to the Esther peak, and the trail was pretty easy to navigate.  Once we arrived at the peak, we took a short break and, using the binoculars, marveled at the large number of cars we could see on Whiteface.  It was the 45th High Peak for Rich and Jack, but the very exciting first for Jim.

We met a few different groups during the hike, but overall the trails on Whiteface were not very crowded; at least, not as crowded as some of the other trail head parking lots would indicate the situation to be throughout the rest of the High Peaks.  Back at the trail juncture, everyone seemed to be a little rejuvenated to start the last leg of our ascent.  The final climb was pretty spectacular in that you could clearly see the objective most of the way, but it was a very challenging, steep pitch.  It was fun to chat with the people parked along the roadway who paid the toll to drive up for the view; at least a couple of them seemed thoroughly confused as to why we would actually walk up that hill.

Once we reached the final open scramble that cleared the way to the summit, we could see Mom and Tucker waiting for us on the peak.  Rich and Jack walked the last 100 feet together, and then we had a big celebration on top.  Mom had champagne, bread and cheese, turkey sandwiches, soda, and other snacks.  Because they wouldn't let dogs in the elevator, she had to leave the cooler with beer in the car.  We had a beautiful clear day, and wonderful views of Lake Placid and the whole Adirondack Park.  There were probably about 100 people on, and around, the summit.  We met another group that was also sipping champagne to celebrate their 46th peak; they beat us by about 15 minutes.

After taking a bunch of photos, admiring the view, and soaking it all in, it was time to begin our descent. The return trip was fast and uneventful; aside from Jack and AJ both taking tumbles down the trail, and Jim getting diverted down a snow mobile path that cost him an extra quarter mile.  Once back at the ASRC, we met back up with Mom and our cooler of beer.  On the way home we stopped in Schroon Lake for a celebratory dinner at our favorite pizza place, and then had a red velvet cake back at home before passing out on the couch.

The total hike was 9.9 miles in a leisurely 7:30.  All forty-six High Peaks down; none to go!!!!  However, Sean still has 41, and Ally 42.

August 25, 2012 - Mount Haystack

The number of peaks Jack and Rich have left to climb before hitting our goal is getting very short.  Outstanding weather was in the forecast when we left the house early with the objective of getting a spot in the Garden parking lot before it filled up.  As it turned out, 7:20 AM wasn’t early enough on this busy day, so we parked at Marcy airfield and took the shuttle back to the trail head.  The attendant reminded us that the last shuttle departed at 7:00 PM, so we didn’t waste any time in getting started on the trail. 

Concerned about making good time, we moved pretty quickly along the Phelps Trail towards Johns Brook Lodge.  The only break we took was to stop to admire a deer that was sitting in the trail feeding off a newly felled tree; it seemed unfazed by us, even when we got within a few feet.  Once we reached JBL, we took a quick snack break sitting on the newly remodeled deck.  The trails were pretty crowded on this warm, late Summer day, and we met many interesting people along the route.  One group that we passed included a man who was climbing Haystack as his 46^th High Peak.

Given that all our recent hikes were along unmarked herd paths, being able to make fast progress along a wide, well marked trail was a luxury.  When we cleared the tree line onto Little Haystack, we were treated to a spectacular view of the bare intermediate peak, with big Mount Haystack behind it.  It was quite an impressive view.

After taking a few pictures, we quickly climbed the final pitch and made it to the summit before Noon (less than 4 hours).  We both agreed that the Haystack summit might have yielded the best view in the entire High Peaks region.  Since we were so far ahead of our schedule, we were able to have a leisurely lunch and spend almost an hour relaxing on top, swapping stories with numerous other hikers we met.  When the hiker we passed earlier arrived at the peak, we joined a number of others in cheering the newest 46er.

The summit started to become very crowded as more groups arrived, so we decided it would be a good time to start our descent towards the trail head.  The trip back down to the lower elevations was mostly uneventful, at least until Jack stumbled on a bee's nest that got him stung a couple of times on the legs.  Once we merged back onto the Phelps trail, we determined that we had plenty of slack in our schedule to catch the shuttle, and we would fill in that time with a visit to Bushnell Falls.

Having passed the juncture to the falls multiple times in the past, without any spare time to enjoy a visit, we were excited to finally be able to see that site.  We relaxed at the foot of the falls for almost 40 minutes, chatting with a father / daughter couple that was also cooling off following their own hike.  Back on the trail for the final segment, we were amused to discover that the deer we had spotted that morning was still feeding along the same section of trail.  On the return, we were able to get within inches of him without generating any alarm.

We got back to the Garden parking lot well before the 7:00 PM cut-off, and caught the shuttle back to our car with plenty of time to spare.  The total hike was 17.9 miles in 9:40; pretty quick considering 2 long breaks.  Forty-four High Peaks down; 2 to go.

August 19, 2012 - Mount Marshall

With only a few High Peaks left to conquer, and Summer winding down, Rich and Jack decided to take advantage of a clear, cool August weekend to make some more progress on the list.  Since Jack was facing a long run as part of cross country practice the next day, we decided on the shortest of the remaining hikes for this trip.  It is amazing that we now consider a 14+ mile hike to be a “short” trip.

We were a little later than planned in arriving at the Upper Works trail head at 8:30 AM, and slid into the last legitimate parking spot in that lot.  The sky was completely clear and the car’s thermostat registered 49 degrees when we started.  The route was familiar, as we had traversed the Calamity Brook trail a little over a month ago.  The familiarity and dry conditions made for fast travels, allowing us to complete the 4.5 mile trip to the Flowed Lands in well under 2 hours.  The trails were significantly more crowded than recent hikes, with lots of large groups travelling in both directions.  At the Flowed Lands trail register we met a pair of experienced 46ers that were leading a group of novice young girls up Mount Colden.

The cairn that marks the start of the herd path on Marshall was easily found, and after a brief snack at that juncture we started up the path.  The early going was through a beautiful dense forest along the Marshall Brook, but as soon as we gained elevation it allowed us to quickly climb the slide that encompasses much of the path that the brook follows.  Clouds were starting to build as we made progress up the path, but we never felt like there was any threat of rain.

At just under 4000’ elevation, we encountered a trio descending that was moving carefully.  In conversation, we learned that they were from Virginia Beach.  This was interesting in that our family just returned from a vacation there, and it allowed us to trade stories with the group.  As they left us, they told us that they had just left the summit 45 minutes prior, and we were close.  Fifteen minutes later we passed another pair, and quickly arrived on the summit just before Noon.  We had a good laugh at how slow the first group must be moving (or how bad they are at judging time).  There were no great views, but it was nice to see that a new sign marking the summit has been added since Rich visited the previous October. 

We spent about 25 minutes on top, ate our lunch, called Mom, and had a nice conversation with the couple from Burlington that we passed right before the summit.  They told us how they had done a bunch of hiking when they were younger, but can’t remember which peaks they climbed, so they are starting over in attempting all 46 High Peaks.  Just as we were leaving the summit, the pack of young girls that we met at the register arrived.  They informed us that they decided Colden was more aggressive a trip than they planned, and after talking to us decided to divert to Marshall.  We did get some good southerly and easterly views from an outcropping just south of the summit, and a nice view of Iroquois on the way down.

The descent went fast and smooth; predictably, we caught up to the Virginia Beach group, even with a long lunch on top.  The hike back to the Upper Works was pleasant, but uneventful.  It was nice to be able to be back on our way home before 4:00 PM, enabling us to be home in time for dinner with the family.

The total hike was about 14.4 miles in a quick 7:10.  Forty-three High Peaks down; 3 to go.

July 29, 2012 - Seward, Donaldson, Emmons, & Seymour

Lots of people have said not to try and conquer all four (4) Seward peaks in the same day trip, but after great success with long hikes earlier in the month and the clock winding down on Summer, Rich and Jack decided to give it a shot on the last available weekend before our beach vacation. We were lucky to find an available hotel room in Tupper Lake the night before to let us hit the trail as early as possible on Sunday morning. After having a great Mexican dinner at Casa del Sol in Saranac Lake, we hit the sack early, and set a 4:00 AM alarm. The early start allowed us to be booted up, armed with headlamps, and on the trail at Corey's Road by 5:00 AM.

We only needed the lamps for about 45 minutes before the sun came up enough to see our route, and we made the first 5 miles to the cairn at the Seward Mountain herd path juncture within 2 hours. The trek up Seward was very challenging, with lots of scrambles up open slides and around many downed trees. It took us almost another 2 hours to reach the peak, but we were still way ahead of our time goals for the day. On the summit, we were pleased to have cell coverage so that we could call home and check in with Mom.

We paused only for a quick snack on Seward, and then departed for Donaldson. The descent into the valley between the two mountains was steeper and more rugged than we had hoped, but we made steady progress, pausing periodically to catch views back towards Seward. Once on the Donaldson summit, we took a longer break to admire the views East towards the Santanoni range and further to the High Peaks. We still had good energy, and were pleased to catch our first good look at Seymour for that day.

The trip to Emmons was accomplished quickly, and we took another break on the top to check in again with Mom. On the summit, we were amazed at the large number of dragonflies that were buzzing through the trees. We decided that we still weren't hungry for lunch, and planned that we would wait until we arrived back on Donaldson or Seward to eat, since the trail to Seymour required us to retrace our steps back over the ridge that connected the three peaks. Soon after leaving the Emmons summit, we met our first of several groups that were following our path. It looks like we were the first across that traverse for the day.

We made it all the way back to Seward before stopping, and we were very pleased to only be about 15 minutes off our ideal schedule. On the Seward peak, we unloaded and enjoyed our peanut butter and jelly lunch, with trail mix for desert. Relaxing on the peak we met a group from Montreal that were waiting for a member of their party to catch up; apparently he was lagging the group from earlier in the day. We had a nice conversation with our Canadian friends, and departed back down the Seward trail after about 20 minutes. They assured us that the Seymour climb was easier than Seward, and that pleased us very much. About a third of the way down the mountain, we met the last Canadian, sitting on a rock and looking very tired.

Once back to the old logging road that connected Seward, Seymour, and the trail head, we made quick time to the Seymour juncture, pausing only briefly for a break at a vacant lean-to. Once we started climbing up the Seymour trail, we quickly agreed that even if the trail is easier, nothing is easy after already hiking over 13 miles on the day. It wasn't long before we shed our packs on the trail to try and reduce the burden of the weight, but that didn't seem to make the going any easier; the trail was steep and rugged, and we were exhausted. At one point, we actually lost attention and took different branches of the herd path, getting separated for a while. Luckily, we were able to shout to each other over the noise of the brook and reconnect before anyone got lost.

Finally reaching the summit, we were able to lie down on some open rocks and enjoy the continued warmth of the sun. We had spectacular views and spent almost 20 minutes enjoying our accomplishment. However, the sun was rapidly setting and we still had 7-8 miles to go before we got to the car, but at least we seemed to be a little rejuvenated by our climbing success for the day. Rich was glad that we were able to retrace our steps successfully down the herd path to our packs, since the car keys were located in the side pockets. We strapped the gear back on, and made really good time down the slippery slides and muddy slopes to the flat logging trail. Jack pointed out that if we could march out at the same pace that we came in, we might actually avoid needing headlamps.

We encountered no other people on the trail, other than a group preparing dinner at one of the lean-tos. Even though we were sore and extremely tired, we were able to make it back to the trail head before darkness. Once in the parking lot, we met up again with our Canadian friends from earlier in the day. It seems that their tired friend never made the summit. They dispatched his bother to try and find him, and now they were both missing. We took their information and offered to report the missing hikers to the DEC rangers once we got back to cell coverage. It took us almost three hours to drive back home, making for an extremely long day. Luckily, Jack was able to catch about 2.5 hours of sleep on the ride. We learned via E-Mail the next day that the missing Canadians eventually made it back to the car, arriving long after dark and extremely exhausted.

The total hike was 22.5 miles in a long 13:40. Forty-two High Peaks down; 4 to go.

July 20, 2012 - Couchsachraga, Santanoni, & Panther Peaks

Rich and Jack were both able to sneak away from work on a Friday to try and see if we could bag a few more peaks before another busy weekend.  We stuffed our packs, food, and jumper cables into the car and made our way back to the Upper Works for a trek up into the Santanoni Range.  The temperature was only in the high 40s when we made our way up Santanoni Road, and we had to keep ourselves warm by walking fast.  We passed a young family of four early on the marked trail, but otherwise saw no traffic. 

As we neared Bradley Pond, we saw a cairn that we assumed was for the short-cut herd path to Santanoni that we had read about in trip reports.  Even though we planned to follow the popular path through the Times Square trail juncture, we decided to give it a try.  However, within a half mile we encountered a big beaver pond and swampy area that made it nearly impossible to find the trail, so we turned around and went back to our planned route.  With little recent rain, the trail was pretty dry all the way up to Times Square, where we took a break to get our bearings and prepare for the trail to Couchsachraga.  Just before departing, a pair of hikers came around the bend from the Santanoni path, looking for Times Square.  They had come up the short-cut path that we abandoned and said it was very wet and steep; they were planning to descend the longer, popular route.  We were glad we aborted that route without going too far.

The trail to Couchsachraga was easy to follow, and reasonably dry with only one real swampy area.  Nearing the summit, we heard someone blow a very loud horn from the direction of the peak.  As we climbed the final pitch, we met a group of boys from a nearby camp starting the descent; their intent was to blow the horn on the summit of each of the day's peaks.  We took off our packs on the summit, had a snack, and took a short break.  On our return to Times Square, we met the young family that we had passed earlier in the day.  There was a girl of about 10 years old, and a very tired boy that could have been no more than 8.  They were still moving, but a long way from the car.

At Times Square, we passed the boys from the camp and immediately worked our way down the path to Santanoni.  It was only about a mile to the summit, but the herd path was narrow and sharp branches scraped our skin every step of the way.  The view on the peak was very limited, but there was a small ledge just East of the summit that had great views of the entire High Peaks region.  We sat on the ledge to enjoy our lunch, and let the boys have the crowded summit to blow their horn.  After taking a bunch of pictures, we departed for Times Square, saving the easiest peak of the day for last.  As we neared the crowded juncture, we met up with the young family that was debating whether they had enough energy and daylight to reach the top of Santanoni.

The trip up to the top of Panther Peak was quick and easy, and we were relieved to find no other people along the path or on the summit.  We relaxed with the fantastic views of the Seward and Santanoni ranges for about 20 minutes before strapping on the packs one more time for the trip back towards the car.  Soon after clearing through Times Square for the last time that day, we bumped into the young family who had stopped for a break on their descent.  We learned that they never made the move towards Santanoni, and that the young boy was feeling quite sick and had already vomited three times.  It was not a good situation given that they still had over 6 miles to go and it was getting late.    After they declined any assistance, we took off in the direction of the car, quickly passing Bradley Pond, traversing the beaver dam, and generally making good time back to the service road.

Once in the car, we crossed our fingers, started the car, and decided that we still had enough day left to drive up to Lake Placid and visit Kate and Craig who were in town for the Ironman Race.
 

The total hike was 17.8 miles in 11:20.  Thirty-eight High Peaks down; 8 to go.

July 4, 2012 - Mount Redfield & Cliff Mountain

After a great night's sleep at Rick and Jenn's house, Jack and Rich put on our wet boots and drove back to the Upper Works to launch our assault on another set of challenging peaks.  Our objectives were Mount Redfield and Cliff Mountain; but if we had enough energy and daylight, we would also try Mount Marshall.  Aside from the wet feet, the early going was pretty easy and neither of us were too sore from the previous day's adventure.  We made it to the David Henderson memorial at Calamity Pond in well under two hours.

We didn't have a lot of sun which helped with the heat, but we did hear periodic rumbles of thunder off in the distance.  There were surprisingly few hikers on the trails given that it was a holiday, and all the lean-tos we passed were empty.  We stopped for a snack near the Flowed Lands, and made continued good time to Colden Dam. 

Once we reached the dam, the sun started to break through and we had a spectacular hike in the direction of Mount Marcy along the Opalescent River.  We were using an old guide book, so we were a little unsure where to find the juncture for the trails to Redfield and Cliff.  Jack had read that it might be the same point, so we were practicing with our new GPS and compass to see if we could find it, which we did with little trouble.  In fact, we were making such good time that Jack felt confident that Marshall was still a possibility.

The climb up Redfield was a little more rugged than we had hoped, and it took us a lot more time than planned.  We did spot a ferret on the trail, as well as a number of bright orange salamanders.  Once we reached the peak, we had a leisurely lunch and enjoyed a great view of Allen (our previous day's conquest).  Rather than continue to push ourselves, we decided at that point to slow it down and save Marshall for another day.

 Back at the juncture of the Redfield and Cliff trails, we met a hiker coming down from Cliff that gave us pointers on reaching that summit; basically, very wet and very steep.  In exchange, we gave him some advice on what to expect on Allen, since he planned to try that peak the next day.  We made it up the cliffs on Cliff much faster than the hour predicted by our new hiker friend, but we were both becoming extremely fatigued on the descent. 

We paused briefly at the cairn marking the trail to Marshall, but we didn't have nearly enough energy or daylight to pull it off.  Despite our sore legs and feet, we made great time on the five miles back to the car.  For good measure, the last mile was in fairly heavy rain (just to make sure everything was soaked).  Walking into the parking lot as the sun was setting, we could see from the trail register that we were the last group expected out that day.  Sadly, the battery on the car was dead, but that is another story.

The long hike was 19 miles in about 11:15.  Thirty-five High Peaks down; 11 to go.

July 3, 2012 - Allen Mountain

No big parties planned for Independence Day, so Jack and Rich packed up and headed to the mountains for a couple of days to try and top some of the most difficult hikes on our list.  With good weather anticipated, we targeted Allen Mountain first.  Only a couple of cars at the Upper Works trail head when we arrived, and the register told us everyone else was going towards Mt. Adams.  We had a easy Hudson River crossing, aided by the lack of recent rain.  However, it was a little more interesting trying to traverse the "floating" bridge across Lake Jimmy, as some of the sections were extremely loose and unstable.

We made good speed through the meadows and swamps past the juncture for Mt. Adams, but Jack quickly dubbed this area the Valley of Death because of the incessant flies and bugs that were torturing him.  To make it worse, the vegetation was pretty thick and damp from the previous night's rain, so we quickly got pretty wet.  Once we arrived at the trail register that signalled the end of the marked trail, it had also gotten hot (just in time for the meat of our climb).

It was not difficult to follow the trail up the stream bed that now runs through the slide on Allen's west slope, but the rocks were extremely slippery and there was a lot of blow-down that we had to scramble over or under.  It took us almost 3 hours to track the final 4 miles to the summit, and when we got there we were rewarded with more bugs.  Some of the out-croppings offered views of Redfield and Skylight to the North and the Santanoni's to the West. We only encountered two other groups on Allen; both had hiked down from the campsites around Lake Colden.

We made much better time on the return trip, but it was still a really long trail.  Either the bugs were a little better when we got back to the Valley of Death, or we had just gotten used to them crawling down our backs and flying into our ears.  The only real problem that we encountered was when we got back to Lake Jimmy.  The sections of the bridge had become decoupled, and one section actually sank when we stepped on it, getting us wet up to our knees.  That was not a big deal since we were less than a mile from the car, but with a hike planned the next day, we were assured wet feet all day.

Once we were done, we drove down to Indian Lake to see Uncle Rick's new house and spend the night with them.  The total hike was about 18 miles in 11:30; a long trip for only one peak.  Thirty-three (33) High Peaks down; 13 to go.

June 23, 2012 - Mount Colvin & Blake Peak

Jack and Rich got our usual late start on the Summer hiking season, with Spring sports, school exams, and bad weather wreaking havoc on our desire to start earlier this year.  With only one more Summer before college applications, Jack has decided that he wants to make a concerted push to finish off the 46 High Peaks.  Colvin and Blake were chosen as our first foray into the Adirondacks for the season, as it seemed like a well marked, easy hike to start.

We got an early departure from St. Huberts, and under sunny skies, made good progress up the Gill Brook trail.  When we stopped for our first break, a family of five passed us, but not before we were able to learn that they were following the same path.  After a quick snack, we started off to catch the small group.  Typically, unless there is something notable to view or admire, we move pretty fast along the trail.  However, in this instance we had no success in catching this particular family; they were moving.  Small, puffy clouds were just starting to form when we arrived at the summit of Colvin, where we enjoyed our lunch with the family that we learned was from Lake Placid.  The views down to Ausable Lake were fantastic.

Once we cooled down a little, we started off down the ridge towards Blake Peak.  It wasn't long before the Lake Placid girls passed us like we were standing still.  It was a more difficult hike to Blake than we expected, with more elevation change than anticipated.  As we neared the summit, the clouds became considerably thicker, but the views were still enjoyable.  On the summit of Blake, we got a chance to talk to the Lake Placid girls, and we asked them how they are able to move so quickly on the trail.  Their response was that they really don't enjoy hiking, but that their mother promised to take them to Paris once they finished all 46 High Peaks.  They are basically trying to get it over and done with as soon as possible.

We bid them farewell, and sat down to enjoy our lunch alone at the summit.  As we were getting ready to head back towards the car, we could see ominous dark clouds drifting over the top of the Great Range.  On our hike back towards Colvin, we passed a number of groups that were trailing us; all of them were concerned about the worsening weather.  Back on the summit of Colvin, the first loud thunder clap forced us to pick up our pace.

Not long past the summit, we came upon the Lake Placid family who were paused because the youngest daughter was having some difficulty.  Recognizing our chance, we blasted past them and hustled down the mountain all the way until we encountered the Gill Brook again.  During our descent, the rain turned from a mist to a drizzle to a deluge.  Finally feeling confident that we had enough of a lead, we stopped for a quick snack.  Almost immediately, the older two sisters blazed past us again, obviously having abandoned the little sister and the parents.  We didn't catch up to them until we got to the Lake Road, where they sat dejectedly and told us that they didn't have permission to go any further without their parents.  Even so, we only beat them to the cars by about five minutes.

The total hike was about 15.5 miles in an even 8:00.  Thirty-two (32) High Peaks down; 14 to go.